Raising the wages of astronauts will improve their life on Earth. This was announced on April 15 by Hero of Russia, cosmonaut and State Duma deputy Maxim Suraev.
Suraev noted that the salaries that had been established before that could not be enough for many cosmonauts.
“Those who did not fly received around 100 thousand. Well, see for yourself: this is a constant absence from home, business trips, and you still need to raise children. Again, rental housing. Maybe now the guys with these salaries will be able to take out a mortgage for themselves. It is good that the salaries of cosmonauts have been increased, “Suraev said in an interview with the Radiotochka NSN Telegram channel.
The State Duma deputy noted that cosmonauts experience constant stress and train a lot to always be in good shape.
“Survival training, skydiving, medical experiments, centrifuge, hydrolaboratory. This is the work of an astronaut: constant training, constant study and constant risk, “Suraev said.
Earlier that day, Oleg Mukhin, vice-president of the Russian Cosmonautics Federation, told Izvestia that an increase in the salaries of Russian cosmonauts was very positive news, but it would have little effect on the attractiveness of the profession.
Also on Thursday, the Russian government approved the indexation of cosmonauts’ salaries. The corresponding decree was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin. According to the document, the monthly salary of cosmonaut candidates will grow from 60.9 thousand to 129.5 thousand rubles. For cosmonauts it will increase from 63.8 thousand to 135.8 thousand rubles, and for those who have already visited space – from 69.6 thousand to 139.2 thousand rubles. In addition, the salary of cosmonaut instructors will also increase. Instead of 88.4 thousand rubles, they will receive 165.9 thousand rubles.
Maksim Ovchinnikov, first deputy general director of Roscosmos for economics and finance, also said that the salary of Russian cosmonauts after the increase will exceed 500 thousand rubles a month. He admitted that the astronauts in the future may be provided with a housing subsidy.
On April 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed a 50% increase in salaries for those who flew into space, and 70% for those who are still preparing to fly.